My Rabbit Room buddy Thomas McKenzie shares a thoughtful blog post about the importance of narrative to connect us deeply to the truth. This is something important to remember during this season (and always). I am all for propositions; we need them. But they matter because of a Story.

He begins by explaining what happens on an especially great episode (one of my favorites) of Star Trek:The Next Generation called “Darmok.” Captain Picard meets up with an alien who is only able to communicate through stories and the allusions to those stories. When Captain Picard figures out the stories (for the aliens it’s “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra”), he can finally communicate. Thomas goes on to say…

“I recognize how increasingly like these aliens I am.  I was sitting in a meeting a few weeks ago.  The person leading the meeting was talking about “spiritual formation.”  That’s kind of a buzz word in the church world right now.  He had lots to say about this topic, and what he had to say was very well thought out.  I, however, had a hard time understanding what he was saying.  Why?  Because he didn’t use any stories.  There were not examples, no parables, no narrative.  Because there was no narrative, no “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra,” no “Juliet on her Balcony,” I couldn’t grasp the material.  I understood every word he was saying, but the words were like vapor in a disembodied haze.”

Read the entire post here.

This was a real pleasure to watch. I can’t recommend it highly enough. If you’re a Lewis fan, a movie buff, a story lover, a Christian, a human, you’ll appreciate this.

I loved Alan Jacob’s book The Narnian, and if you watch this you’ll see why. The man, in fact all three of these fellows, absolutely get Narnia. They also deeply get Lewis himself and his magical worldview.

Many expressed concerns over The Great Divorce film adaptation in the works (by N.D Wilson). If you’re one of those people, I’d watch this and your mind might change. At least you’ll appreciate that the story is in good hands. Who knows if that will issue in a great movie.

This, my friends, is gold. It’s gold-plated gold. Enjoy.

I just got home from watching The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole with my family. I’m eager to share just “owl” much I loved this movie. And with that bad joke I demonstrate explicitly how far I am from being qualified to review a movie. I have none of the skill of the learned chaps who know what they’re talking about when it comes to “cinema.” This will be a review from a person who has never seen most of the movies that get reviewed by people who know a lot about cinematic art. Most of my male relatives chew tobacco.

Owls movie, regular idiot review, with commentary on raising kids in a toxic world…go.

Firstly, Legend… is breathtaking to watch. It’s a visually stunning, captivating movie, with wonderful detail and animation (is it still called animation?). I recently finished reading Neil Granger’s book, Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. I couldn’t help but think of Walt. I thought of how he accomplished something incredible with Snow White and how amazed he would be at a film like this. It was a real joy to watch. 3D? I loved it. Maybe that makes me a real hick from the sticks, unable to appreciate how 3D is devastating modern cinema. This was a movie where, for me, 3D aided the suspension of disbelief and the imaginative quality of the picture.

Movies with good “special effects” are in great supply. (Do they still call them special effects?) But there are fewer movies that have a great story and fewer still which don’t undermine the truth about the world God made either in slight, or flagrant ways. This movie, to unholster a tired cliche, has it all.

I loved the story. I bought in like a rich investor, took the bait hook, line, and sinker. Was it a basic good vs. evil story? Yes. I love that. The story was so fundamentally good that I just sat there grinning throughout. My review can be summarized in one word: fantastic. But this has a lot to do with where I am in life and who I was sitting with.

I sat between our 5 and 7 year old kids, my wife held our sleeping baby throughout. Our 5 year old boy has only been so for a few days. Yesterday we celebrated his birthday with a “St. George” party. My older brother dressed as a dragon and our son, distinguished from his comrade knights by the St. George’s cross on his chest, led the attack on the castle to save the princess (well-acted by his brilliant and beautiful sister). It was a great time, though I’m sure if there were any dour, P.C. scolds watching they would have been horrified. (This is unlikely in rural West Virginia farming country.) What we emphasized in that party and what countless tales told to these children over and over emphasize is this: If you have strength, it is not to dominate and control, but to love and serve. If you are a leader, then you are not to rule by lording it over others, but to lay down your life. To serve. To die.

I must say (though I know it is hard for some modern ears to hear) that I especially emphasize this point with my oldest son (and will with his brother in time). My old-fashioned understanding? Boys need to know that strength is not for lording, intimidating, tyrannizing, and it is for dang sure not about serving yourself. We. Look. To. Jesus.

Jesus is our example. The Son of God who, though being rich, became poor; though being strong, became weak; though being Majestic in Glory and Deserving of All Power and Praise, put on a servant’s nature. He came to serve. Husbands are therefore commanded to be like that as they lead. My heart is for that in my own life (though I fail regularly) and my training and instruction for these boys must be “in the Lord.”

So, back to this movie about owls. Inside the story there is a story (I love that kind of thing.) The story within the story is one that our main character, Soren, loves and retells over and over. He believes this story (of the legendary Guardians) with all his heart, though others deride him for his faith. A beautiful element of this movie is how the story that he believes to be true, though he can’t see with his eyes, impacts his entire being. He is different because of how this story works on him, in stark contrast to his unbelieving brother.

This is pretty much the situation for Christians.

Of course Soren is right, his faith eventually becomes sight and he meets his heroes. In a lovely touch, his number one hero is not as physically impressive as he expects. This clever turn points to the underlying theme of the story and the oath of the Guardians. They are charged with, “mending the broken, making the weak strong.” In contrast with the evil “Pure Ones,” (wondrous, ironic nomenclature) who wish to manipulate, dominate, and enslave the weak and vulnerable.

The Guardians protect the vulnerable, they serve the weak. They do not use their power and authority to serve themselves, but fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. The Guardians also have a hierarchical structure; they have a king and queen. But the use of this power and authority, as in Tolkien and Lewis (and Scripture), is operated by the “good side” not for self, but for love and service. It is, frankly, a beautiful thing to see.

It is a rare joy to go to the movies and so explicitly see the values that we emphasize in our home be, not undermined, but underlined. I was ecstatic.

Sure, it’s fine to talk over all the core toxicity of films with our kids, to learn something from the bent expressions of the fallen imagination. These can sometimes be very fruitful –especially, I suppose, with older kids. But man, it’s great to just see something good. Real good.

This is why I love Andrew Peterson’s books. Fantastic stories brilliantly told, but without the core deceptions of a man-centered worldview. A modern author…and we can trust him! Don’t wonder why Christian parents rejoice at such things. It’s a rare treasure found. There are others of course (my kids have read hundreds of good books), but the “total package” thing is pretty rare in my experience. I feel like that’s what you get with AP’s books.

This movie feels pretty close to that as well. I haven’t read the books (The Owls of Ga’hoole), but this movie was a deep delight for me to see with my kids. I enthusiastically stick all the thumbs I have and can borrow from my neighbors in an upward direction.

Note: Some of the action/peril might frighten young kids, but my 5 year old (prepped) was not bothered –and he is not exposed to a lot of scary images/movies.

Note 2: This post was originally published at The Rabbit Room.

One of my favorite living authors takes on the job of adapting one of my favorite dead (in a manner of speaking, see book) authors’ works. N.D. Wilson is set to adapt C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce for the screen. I am, of course, not sure how it might work, and the Narnia movies (especially the atrocious second film) have been a major disappointment. But if N.D. is on the job, I’m much more interested. His outstanding Notes From the Tilt-a-Whirl is reminiscent in may ways of The Great Divorce. I love that book.

This from Variety (which, as you know, I am constantly quoting)…

“Mpower Pictures (“The Stoning of Soraya M.”) and Beloved Pictures are teaming to co-produce C.S. Lewis’ fantasy novel ‘The Great Divorce.’

Veteran producer and Mpower CEO Steve McEveety will lead the production team. Childrens’ book author N.D. Wilson (‘Leepike Ridge,’ ‘100 Cupboards’) is attached to write.”

Note: CSL’s name for his short book came as a reply to William Blake’s poem, “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.”

Note the Second: If you buy either of these books here I get a pittance. (Click on the cover image.)

It is also highly poetic, and (needless to say) so full of truth.

Note: When I say “highly poetic” I do not in any way mean that it is not factual in its accounts of events. I believe that it is factual. It’s just very literary as well, and beautiful. That’s what I meant.

This short video has some fascinating insights. And it’s kinda weird.

You may recognize Doane’s name from his film, Collision –which is outstanding.

Genesis Redux Pt. 1 from Darren Doane on Vimeo.

Fantastic Mr. Fox: 1. Amusing 2. Odd 3. Unspectacular

Where the Wild Things Are: 1. Adult 2. Metaphor-laden 3. OK

2012: 1. Absurd 2. Semi-hilarious 3. Timewaster

This has been 3 on 3. I’m your host, Hillary Clinton, thanking you and saying in a sweet voice, “Join us next time on 3 on 3.”

“I meet people occasionally who think motion pictures, the product Hollywood makes, is merely entertainment, has nothing to do with education. That’s one of the darndest fool fantasies that is current . . . . Anything that brings you to tears by way of drama does something to the deepest roots of our personality. All movies, good or bad, are educational and Hollywood is the foremost educational institution on earth. What, Hollywood more important Harvard? The answer is not as clean as Harvard, but nevertheless farther reaching.”

Carl Sandburg

I haven’t seen this movie, but you get the idea.

“I believe cinema is now the most powerful secular religion and people gather in cinemas to experience things collectively the way they once did in church. The cinema storytellers have become the new priests. They’re doing a lot of the work of our religious institutions, which have so concretized the metaphors in their stories, taken so much of the poetry, mystery and mysticism out of religious belief, that people look for other places to question their spirituality.”

George Miller

HT: James Grant

“…You see this in Christian movies, too. If you look across the bulk of the movies made, they are shallow, filled with superficial “tragedy” that in every case resolves perfectly, helping the protagonist to more exciting faith.

This is why so many believers who are artists choose to do art outside of the community of faith — or on the outskirts of it. You can communicate harder things, deeper things, if you’re not constrained by an industry that doesn’t want depth, preferring an easy sell. So, you get a movie like Primer, made by a Believer, that explores hard questions about man’s nature and does it interestingly (time travel and the relationship dynamic between best friends). This movie would be a hard sale into the Christian art buying community (Christian bookstores, web stores, etc). But, ironically, it found an audience with thinking people in the general industry. And it was better done than any Christian movie I’ve ever seen.

So, one thing that Christian art must have is depth.”

Read the whole post.

The 1995 Rugby World Cup was a fascinating and exciting time for South Africans and those of us who consider it a second home country.

Invictus releases Friday.

It will be interesting to see how central the titular poem is to the story. The poem, while admirable in several ways, is pretty fundamentally at odds with a biblical worldview. 

But one understands what angle the filmmaker’s are pursuing with it.

FYI: Here’s an article on SA Rugby, then and now. Note: The Springboks are, once again, currently the World Champions in Rugby.

Re: Accuracy in Accents.

Matt Damon: B+

Morgan Freeman: F

Oh mind behind these lies, so far from Eden you can barely reflect a spark’s worth of light. You smother the blazing torch with a titanic effort of suppression. You lay on the trunk of love to be sure nothing beautiful escapes. You are an ungrateful son, a pitiless assassin, a plague of misdirection.

The True story is so comprehensive, a broad and brilliant view. And you have chased the peripheries into a canyon off the map. And all the crafty stories about it were lies. Misled and misleading. “Follow me to freedom,” you say. “Escape from conformity with me.” But you outfit your travelers with complex chains and tell them it is the uniform of self-actualization and they say “More chains please. Damned be our oppressors.”

Folly is your banner. Your suppositions are answerable, your incoherence decipherable as the language of lies.

No.

Autonomy is not ecstasy. Rebellion is not liberty. Order is not enemy. Truth’s not in idolatry. Treason is not fealty.

In other words: I award you zero stars. Two thumbs way down.